Letters: May 6

Letter writer wrong in maligning former pastor

On April 29, Ms. Kathleen Sampson wrote a letter to the editor under the title of "Greed showing its face in Sen. Heinrich, society." In her letter about greed, Ms. Sampson referred to a former pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, completely mischaracterizing the pastor, the situation she referred to, and the decisions made.

It is unfortunate that Ms. Sampson never contacted the church before she wrote her letter to ask for the minutes of our Church Conference and the documents pertinent to the pastor's compensation packages and accountable reimbursement policies, all of which are public documents. Had she done that, she would not have included St. Paul's UMC in her letter, because nothing of what she mentioned was factual.

While I agree with her main point that the god of money and the social ill of greed have become pervasive in our society, and at times, these two have made their presence known in pastors and churches. I am troubled, however, by her baseless statements regarding a former pastor and our church. I invite Ms. Sampson to meet with me and with some of our church leaders, so that we can share with her our journey and any document that she would like to review.

The Rev. Eduardo Rivera, St. Paul's UMC senior pastor, Las Cruces

Tutti Bambini thankful for successful 'Opening Doors'

The second annual Tutti Bambini "Opening Doors" art auction was a big success thanks to the more than 120 artists who gave their time and talent to create wondrous works of art from cabinet doors. On behalf of the board of directors, we give them our heartfelt gratitude.

The generous art patrons who purchased the inspired art generated funds that will benefit children in our area and across the Borderland.

Stephanie and David McDaniel of Kitchen Kraft graciously opened their doors to host this event and also contributed the food that was so creatively prepared and served by Santa Fe chef Johnny Vee and his army of volunteers. We can never thank them enough.

Very special thanks go to Dick Emory and Gene Ott, who spent countless hours volunteering their time to assist Sister Beth Daddio with this production. The volunteers who keep our children's store, Tutti Bambini, operating also deserve our thanks for giving more of their time to set up for the art event and to keep it running smoothly.

Billie Taylor, vice president, Tutti Bambini

Fight tea party to save the soul of Las Cruces

The Las Cruces Tea Party is a powerful alliance of fiscally and socially conservative philosophies that strive to make a world with the lowest possible taxes for the wealthy, while squashing environmental and social programs. They want to reach this agenda by pushing back most governmental programs and the growing diversity in America's population.

Not all pro-business people are driven by the tea party message. Many embrace the bottom line of pure economics and accept the diversity of population in every way as the future of America.

So how does the tea party pervert the laws of simple supply and demand? By infusing lots of money into campaigns to manipulate and trick people into thinking the tea party is the American way. Think Koch brothers, the Heritage Foundation, and super PACs. All that is accomplished is the billionaire Koch brothers get richer.

Finally, how can some people feel the need to reach out and assist those in need; the suffering of people, animals and the planet? While others, like our own Gov. Susana Martinez, rip out the guts of the mental health system in New Mexico and let the most vulnerable of our population at her mercy? The tea party is a dangerous mix of economic, philosophical and religious aspects that encourages maximizing profits, yet overlooks the most unfortunate of our society and the needs of a changing diversity of the population. And on the local scene, to recall city councilors simply because they don't vote the tea party way.

To push back the advances of Martinez and the Las Cruces Tea Party, we must fight back and save the heart and soul of our city. We must first save our city councilors from their attacks, then be watchful and vote during every election.